


sound like you mean it

by majesdane



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-10
Updated: 2007-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-06 08:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/733845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majesdane/pseuds/majesdane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>slight au. set between hbp and dh. | Luna goes to stay with the Grangers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sound like you mean it

It was Mrs. Weasley's fault, really, though Hermione couldn't really say that to anyone but herself, as she slouched down in the backseat of her parents' Toyota. It was Mrs. Weasley's suggestion after all; it'd be a good chance for female bonding, she'd said earlier, though Hermione had been tempted to mention that Ginny didn't have to take part in any of this 'bonding.'

Not like it was going to be a horrible thing - no, of course not - but it really wasn't what she'd been looking forward to. With things how they were now, she'd have been grateful for a few moments of peace, a few precious moments of alone time, before the whole world around her exploded into madness. Except, now the madness had come _with_ her, and that was really what she was cross about in the first place.

Luna, sitting beside her, turned another page of _The Quibbler_ , holding it cross-ways for reasons Hermione didn't really know. But then again, it was Luna, so there really could have been several reasons for her currently awkward style of reading, and probably none of them included the answer 'because the text is written out that way.'

And then Luna turned _another_ page, and it was starting to get irritating, her holding the paper like that and not knowing - well, _knowing_ , perhaps just not caring - how ridiculous she looked. And it was a stupid thing to get irritated about, but Hermione was still sore that she'd have to spend her last remaining moments of peace with Luna.

Well, that was a bit unfair. She did like Luna, even if the blond seemed remarkably batty at times. And Luna was nice to her and brave too, as Hermione recalled her and Neville being the only ones of the DA to come help in the fight that occurred when a group of Death Eaters had gotten into Hogwarts. So

Hermione respected her, in a grudging sort of way, because, despite her best intentions, she still thought that Luna was completely of her rocker more often than not, and that was not something Hermione tended to respect about people.

But Mrs. Weasley had made the suggestion, as they were all packing to go back home, and Hermione couldn't have said no, not when Luna'd smiled and asked if it would be all right for her to tag along, because she'd always wanted to spend time living like a Muggle did, and Hermione wouldn't mind if she _did_ stay at her house, would she?

Personally, she didn't understand why Luna couldn't have just stayed with the Weasleys and bonded with Ginny - after all, they lived nearby, wouldn't that have been easier? Then again, Mrs. Weasley already had enough to deal with right now, what with Bill and Fluer's wedding coming soon. Perhaps it was understandable, then, why she'd thought it'd be better - easier, actually - if Luna'd stayed at Hermione's house.

They'd endured most of the drive back home from the station in silence. But then, of course, her parents decided it would be a good time to try and make polite conversation with Luna.

"So, Luna," her mother said, and Hermione was already dreading the conversation. "What house are you in?"

"Oh, Ravenclaw," Luna said dreamily, folding _The Quibbler_ up neatly and setting in on her lap. "And I quite enjoy it, although sometimes I wish that I was in Gryffindor. All my friends are in there. I don't have very many - friends, I mean."

Hermione bit her lip at Luna's last sentence, feeling uncomfortable. Luna had a knack for making awkward, off-handed remarks.

"Luna's a year younger than I am," she spoke up. "She's in Ginny Weasley's class."

"Oh, yes," said her mother, though Hermione wasn't convinced that she knew who Ginny was.

"I like Ginny," Luna put in, staring thoughtfully into space. "She's always been kind to me. And I like you too, Hermione," she said, with a smile, patting Hermione's wrist.

"Er, thanks Luna," Hermione said. "I like you too."

"And we're very glad to have you staying with us for two weeks," Hermione's father said, looking up at them in the rear view mirror. "Hermione's told us all about you."

That was a lie, but Hermione wasn't going to say anything. If she had mentioned Luna to her parents, it was most likely in a bad light, vexed about Luna's insufferable tendency to believe in the unbelievable.

A few minutes later, Hermione's father asked the inevitable question: "So, Luna, what do your parents do for work?"

"Well, my mum's dead," Luna said, then added, "But it's all right; she died when I was much younger. And I have my father. He's the editor a newspaper - _The Quibbler_." She held up the folded newspaper and offered it to Mrs. Granger.

Mrs. Granger took it, glancing over it uncertainly. "Oh, well, that's nice," she said.

"Yes, I very much admire him," Luna said in a dream tone. She then proceeded to tell her about Blibbering Humdinger and the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and how she and her father had spent a marvelous time in Sweden over the summer holiday last year trying to catch one.

Her parent's expressions were unreadable, but Hermione was sure that they thought Luna was completely off her rocker. She really wasn't - not entirely, anyway - but her oddness could be rather unnerving. Hermione thought that it was best to take Luna in in small doses - _very_ small doses - so that way you could adapt to her odd ideas and rather dreamy way of speaking, even when the conversation was a serious one.

Luna was still talking when they'd pulled into driveway; she was eagerly pointing out an article about conspiracy theories involving the Ministry to Mrs.

Granger, who kept on smiling politely and nodding.

"Sorry we don't have a guest room," Hermione said, as they dragged their suitcases upstairs. "I hope you don't mind having to share a room with me."

"Not at all," Luna said pleasantly. "I think it'll be quite nice, actually. I'm very glad that you're letting me stay with you for a time, Hermione. No one's ever had me over their house before - at least, not for any longer than an hour or so."

Hermione decided that it was perhaps best to say nothing to that, and pushed open the door to her bedroom. Luna trailed in behind her, glancing about the room thoughtfully, as if she thought it spectacular.

"Right." Hermione said, setting down her suitcase with a dull thud and straightening, brushing herself off absentmindedly. "You'll have to sleep on the floor, I suppose. I think there's a sleeping bag in my closet . . ."

There was. Luna examined it curiously, though Hermione thought she _must_ have seen a sleeping bag before. Then again; she remembered the Quidditch World Cup, and how the inside of the tent had been the size of a small flat; they had sleep in cots then, so perhaps it _was_ new to the blond. Still, it was just a sleeping bag. Hermione rolled her eyes as Luna peered cautiously at it, unrolling it delicately.

"Checking for Nargles?"

Luna set the bag down gently. "Oh no," she said. "There might be some hiding in the clover in your front lawn - if you have any, of course - but there's no mistletoe here, as far as I know. But there could have been a Wrackspurt hiding in there - they make you brain go all fuzzy -" Hermione nodded blankly. "But I don't think there's anything to worry about."

Hermione tried to look relieved.

Luna spent the rest of the day admiring Hermione's house, which she said she found quite endearing, for a Muggle house. She was most particularly fascinated with the Granger's car, and dragged a rather unwilling Hermione outside with her to explain just how it worked. She then went about asking Hermione all sorts of questions about household appliances, which Hermione found particularly irritating, because she was quite sure that Luna must have known what satellite television was or how a refrigerator worked, despite the rather stark difference between the wizarding world and ordinary Muggle life.

She was lying in bed that night, attempting to fall asleep, when Luna's voice floated up from the floor beside her.

"Could we share the bed?" she asked.

Hermione started. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong with the floor, or your sleeping bag either," Luna said. "But I'm worried about possible Wrackspurts."

"I thought you said there was no need to worry about them."

"I did, but I think now that my initial assessment was incorrect," Luna sat up. Hermione rolled over to look at her. In the moonlight that seeped through the curtains, Luna appeared to be glowing. Her blond hair shone brightly and her silver eyes were lit up spectacularly.

Luna said, "Would you mind if we shared the bed, Hermione? Normally I'd be perfectly happy to consent to whatever sleeping arrangement you wanted, but I _am_ worried about Wrackspurts. They are quite unpleasant. I'd feel much safer sleeping in a bed rather than on the floor."

Hermione sighed. She wanted to say no, wanted to say that Wrackspurts were, in fact, not real at all, and thus, Luna was in no danger. But this was _Luna_ , and she knew that nothing she could say would change the younger girl's mind. And it would be rather unkind to refuse the bed to Luna, who thought of Hermione as 'nice,' someone who saw Hermione as a real friend.

"We can share the bed," she said, thinking that she would very likely regret her sudden sympathy for the blond.

And then Luna was crawling into bed with her, and Hermione moved closer to the wall. Despite consenting to share the bed, she was determined to keep a fair distance between their bodies, even if it meant being squashed up uncomfortably against the wall all night. Luna though, seeing her pull away, only moved closer, until they were only an inch or so apart.

"That looks rather uncomfortable," she observed of Hermione's position. "Do you always sleep in such a way?"

"Uh, no," Hermione said, flushing. She tried to relax a bit, though that meant moving in closer to Luna, who smiled and reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of Hermione's eyes, which made her more than a bit uncomfortable.

"Luna," she started, but she didn't quite know what to say to Luna's apparent lack of respect for other people's personal spaces. So instead, she said, "Why did you want to spend part of the holiday with me? I mean, don't you think it'd be better if you'd spent it with your father? Or someone else, in someplace else?"

"No," Luna said, quite decidedly. "I think I'd rather spend time with you, Hermione."

Hermione decided not to press the issue. But she did relax a bit, as her back had begun to ache from being shoved up so against the wall; now her face was only an inch or so away from Luna's, and the close proximity of the blond's face made her stomach twist into an unpleasant knot. Luna smiled again, pleasantly, and threaded her fingers in between Hermione's, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. Hermione felt a rush a heat at the unexpected contact, and hoped fervently that she wasn't blushing right now.

"I've always liked you, Hermione," Luna said, after a time.

Hermione looked at her incredulously. "Really? Even though you and I disagreed on almost everything at first?"

Luna shrugged. "You're close-minded," she said, though not unkindly. "You have such a narrow view of the world; you don't always see things that are right under your nose."

"Like Wrackspurts?" Hermione asked, not taking offense.

"Yes, like Wrackspurts," Luna said dreamily, her pale eyes meeting Hermione's gaze. "If only you could open yourself up a bit more Hermione. I think that you'd have a much different perspective of the world. The world is not as logical as you'd like it to be. Sometimes you just need to believe in things."

She squeezed Hermione's hand affectionately.

"I do think it's a shame you weren't placed in Ravenclaw," she said. "It would have been nice to have a friend."

"I'm your friend now, though," Hermione said. "And this feels nice, being like this right now. It's so quiet; I can hear the crickets chirping in the dark, and I like how your hair sort of glows in the moonlight. It's actually very pretty." She flushed after that. "I mean, it's almost angelical looking."

Luna stared at Hermione intently. "It's okay, I know what you met," she told the Gryffindor. "I think you look quite pretty now too, Hermione."

"Thanks," Hermione said, and didn't seem to notice that Luna had been slowing moving forward until the blond pressed her lips gently against Hermione's own.

She was shocked, at first, but regretted it a moment later when Luna pulled away, her face unreadable as usual.

Luna said, "That was rather nice. Thank you, Hermione."

Hermione wanted to know for what.

"For letting me kiss you," Luna said, in a dreamy tone. "It was every bit as enjoyable as I had imagined it to be."

"Oh. Um." Hermione was flustered. "You're . . . Welcome?" Then, after a moment's hesitation, she added, "I do suppose it was nice, wasn't it? Brief, but nice. Sweet. Like when the wind blows and you can feel it on your lips."

"Yes," Luna said softly. "It was very much like that."

And she kissed Hermione again. This time, Hermione kissed her back.

It was a much sweeter second kiss; Luna's lips were soft and when her mouth parted slightly and their tongues brushed against each other, she tasted strongly of peppermint. And the second kiss quickly back a third, a fourth, and then Hermione lost count.

Breathlessly, Luna said, "I think that once again my initial assessment proved to be incorrect. _Those_ were sweet. And very much how I'd imagined."

It was all Hermione could do to nod in response.

Luna sighed and stroked Hermione's hair gently. "You're not trying to be logical," she pointed out.

"What?"

"I'd expected you to be more logical," Luna said. "You know, attempting to rationalize what just happened. Perhaps trying to brush it off as just a mere moment of curiosity and nothing more."

"I could be doing it in my head," Hermione argued. "And then you wouldn't know."

"But it's still so quiet," Luna sighed. "And if it's quiet here, I think that it's quiet in there," she tapped Hermione's forehead lightly with her index finger. "Yes?"

Hermione smiled. "I have to say, for once, you're right."

Luna kissed her.


End file.
